7/3/2018 – Usually, the endgame rook and knight vs rook is a draw when no more pawns are left on the board. But when the defending king is caught in the corner the attacking side sometimes has winning chances.

6/26/2018 – Some players believe in fortresses, others do not. But no matter whether you are believer or not, some fortresses are real and really solid. In the endgame rooks are usually much better than a knight. But with pawns on one side, the defending side might build a fortress:

6/19/2018 – Opening, middlegame, endgame — according to classical teachings these are the three parts of a chess game. In the opening and in the middlegame the king better hides, in the endgame, it can get active. But modern teachings stipulate that there is a fourth phase of the game — in which king safety is key again.

6/18/2018 – In this Simon Says, Simon looks at practical examples of king and pawn endgames. The action is live, most Mondays starting at 18:00 CEST (Noon EDT). | Photo: Alina l'Ami

6/15/2018 – The inclusion of the new Monte Carlo Tree Search (MCTS) version of Komodo has had many users surprised, confused, and even describing it as a gimmick. However, its value is not to be underestimated, and it allows the astute user to find resources the very best engines are completely blind to. GM Karsten Mueller has helped illustrate this with some finely chosen examples in the following article. Read on to see what makes Komodo MCTS so special!

6/12/2018 – "All rook endings are drawn" is a well-known and obviously wrong witticism. In fact, even drawn rook endings are not always drawn.

6/11/2018 – In this Simon Says we look at the final stage of the game. Important rules and endgame techniques are discussed. Join the action starting from 18:00 CEST (Noon EDT). | Photo: Alina l'Ami

6/5/2018 – Having a material plus in the endgame is sometimes not enough. Especially if only a few pawns are left on the board. How can Black win this position by carefully maneuvering his knight?

5/29/2018 – Knights on the rim are dim because they often do not have much room for maneuver. Kings on the rim can be dim because they might fall victim to a mating attack.

5/26/2018 – As the column is always changing, reader feedback was received that April’s historical examination was too long and the column should concentrate on studies more, which of course has been the heart of this column. Therefore the next issue will be more condensed again. In May and probably July SIEGFRIED HORNECKER concentrates on selected non-fiction (May) and fiction (July) literature about chess. This month focuses on Josef Kling and Bernhard Horwitz.

5/23/2018 – England's newest grandmaster, Daniel Fernandez, is in Hamburg recording a FritzTrainer to be published later this year. He joins Karsten for a look some recent endgames from tournament practice. Watch live at 15:00 CEST (9:00 AM EDT) or later on-demand!

5/22/2018 – People often believe that you do not have to calculate much in endgames because there are only a few pieces left on the board which reduces tactical possibilities. However, the opposite is true. Because there are only so few pieces left tactical precision is required.

5/15/2018 – "Knight on the rim is dim", is a well-known saying by Dr. Tarrasch. In modern chess general rules are less and less applicable but sometimes they nevertheless turn out to be true. Still, you have to find good moves to prove that.

5/9/2018 – Some people consider stalemate an injustice - but according to the current rules of chess stalemate is a draw. Which sometimes helps to save seemingly hopeless positions.

5/2/2018 – Passed pawns are often dangerous and far advanced passed pawns are often very dangerous. How does Black draw this position?

4/28/2018 – Chess is a wide field with many interconnections, and while preparing this month’s article about pawn endgame composer Nikolay Grigoriev, study expert and historian SIEGFRIED HORNECKER learned about a nearly forgotten chess organizer from the early Soviet Union, Valerian Eremeev. But also Alekhine’s five queen game might have influenced Grigoriev.

4/24/2018 – Two passed pawns are strong, but a bishop is often stronger — particularly so if it is supported by its king.

4/17/2018 – GM Nicholas Pert is in Hamburg recording a Fritztrainer to be published later this year. He joins Karsten for a look some recent endgames from tournament practice. Watch on-demand!

4/17/2018 – Knights are quick and dangerous, as every blitz player knows. They can trouble king, queen, rook, and bishop. But when knights have to stop passed pawns they are often surprisingly clumsy.

4/10/2018 – Simon Williams is an English Grandmaster and a well-known DVD author for ChessBase. He's in Hamburg to record a DVD follow up to his hit series on the London System. Today he joined Karsten to look at some fascinating endgames from recent tournament praxis! Watch on-demand!

4/9/2018 – "Better is the enemy of good" is proverbial advice against unhealthy perfectionism. But in chess — and particularly in endgames with reduced material — good is often not good enough. In this case it's better to strive for something better.

4/3/2018 – Knight against bishop — an interesting duel. In open positions, the bishop is usually better than the knight. But of course, the bishop first has to BE in an open position.

3/27/2018 – Endgames are often surprisingly tactical. When only a few pieces remain on the board the defender often has hidden drawing chances.

3/24/2018 – Mate in 2 — It's not easy to see at first how White can checkmate in two moves. If White could give a check on g7, then 1.Bg7+ Ke7 2.Nc6 mate is reminiscent of a famous opening trap in the Russian (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 Nxe4!? 4.Qe2 Nf6?? 5.Nc6+). Of course in the problem, the king just could take on g7. This is but one of nine problems you will encounter in this look at the life of the three Kubbel brothers, from study expert and historian Siegfried Hornecker.